In this courtroom sketch former pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli, left, listens as his lawyer Ben Brafman, second from left, speaks to Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, top right

The case was unrelated to the 2015 furore in which he was accused of price-gouging, but his arrest was seen as rough justice by the many enemies he made with his smug and abrasive behaviour online and off.

The judge insisted the punishment was not about Shkreli's online antics or his raising the cost of the drug.

Judge Matsumoto said: "This case is not about Mr. Shkreli's self-cultivated public persona ... nor his controversial statements about politics or culture.

She also cited his bragging after the verdict that he would be sentenced to time served, quoted one piece of correspondence in which he wrote: "F*** the feds."

Defense attorney Benjamin Brafman described Shkreli as a misunderstood eccentric who used unconventional means to make his defrauded investors even wealthier.

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